A Secret Close to Home

Juniper Tickle, Newfoundland, 1906 Jimmy Bailor is left on the edge of the wild North Atlantic with meagre supplies and limited survival skills. He stumbles upon shelter with Flory White, her sister-in-law, Lizzy, and Lizzy’s young son. The Whites have been stranded to winter alone in isolated Juniper Tickle after the menfolk are arrested for the murder of the crew of the Annie May—a marooned schooner owned by Jimmy’s father. While enduring the harsh and unforgiving winter in outport Newfoundland, Jimmy struggles with menial tasks and further strains Flory’s bid to keep them alive until spring, with faint hope for the men’s return. When Jimmy’s identity is revealed, he must face the bitter truth about himself, his father’s legacy, the women he has now betrayed—and a murderer who will stop at nothing to make sure Jimmy disappears once and for all. Will Jimmy challenge his limitations and defy a killer? Will he humbly seek Flory’s forgiveness, or is it too late for them both as Flory deals with deceptions closer to home?

First and foremost, Ida Linehan Young is a grandmother to the most precious little boys, Parker and Samuel, a mother to three adult children, Sharon, Stacey, and Shawna, and a wife to Thomas. In her busy daily life, Ida works in the information technology sector of the federal government of Canada, and she volunteers her time in the community of Conception Bay South with the Kiwanis Club of Kelligrews. Ida had a fascination with writing in her high school days, when she dabbled in poetry and essays. In 2012, she became serious about her writing with a story to tell, and that led to her memoir, No Turning Back: Surviving the Linehan Family Tragedy, in 2014. Having found a passion for writing, and with a love of local history and lore, she published four works of historical fiction: Being Mary Ro (2018), The Promise (2019), The Liars (2020), and The Stolen Ones (2021). In June 2021, the first three novels were issued the Silver Medal for Best Series—Fiction by the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The fourth novel in the series, The Stolen Ones, won the NL Reads 2022 competition and the Margaret Duley Award. The novel was also a 2022 Bronze Medal Winner (Historical Fiction) of the eLit Awards, presented by the Jenkins Group. Ida’s second work of non-fiction, If I Cry I’ll Fill the Ocean, appeared on the Globe and Mail bestsellers list. In 2023, Ida published her first work of speculative fiction, The Room Upstairs, which appeared on the Atlantic Books Today bestsellers list. With strong influences from the familial art of storytelling passed down by her father, Ed Linehan, and her maternal grandfather, Frank Power, Ida writes stories about her beloved province, Newfoundland and Labrador. She enjoys researching events of the late nineteenth century and weaving fictional characters through historical tales that complement that cultural richness, renewing interest in the province’s storied past. Sometimes she writes across different genres just to tell a story.